George W. Mavety (died August 19, 2000, aged 63) was an American

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

mainly known for his company

Mavety Media Group Mavety is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * George W. Mavety (c. 1936–2000), American magazine publisher * Larry Mavety Lawrence Douglas "Larry" Mavety (29 May 1942 – 4 December 2020) was a Canadian professional ice hock ...

, which published both gay and straight pornographic magazines. Later in his career, his interests shifted to real estate.

Early life

Born in Newboro, Ontario (Canada), Mavety worked as a teacher in Canada before becoming involved in the distribution of pornographic magazines, through a company called Trojan Distributing Company.

Brief history of the Mavety publishing empire

In 1974, Mavety took over the distribution of a short-lived gay magazine called ''Dilettante'', which was edited by John Devere. When ''Dilettante'' folded after just a few issues, Mavety offered Devere his support for a new magazine. A self-identified straight man who was married several times and had 13 or 14 children, Mavety "was a visionary" who felt that after the legalization of full frontal male nudity, there was a profitable market for gay magazines.See the testimony by Dian Hanson, who worked for Mavety between 1987 and 2000, o
Unzipped.net
The new magazine was called ''

Mandate Mandate most often refers to: * League of Nations mandates, quasi-colonial territories established under Article 22 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, 28 June 1919 * Mandate (politics), the power granted by an electorate Mandate may also ...

'', and its first issue appeared in March, 1975. It was initially conceived as a somewhat "artsy" publication, with "beautiful layouts & interviews of the arts." Its subtitle was "Entertainment and Eros for Renaissance Men." Over time, Mavety added many other magazines to his list of gay pornographic publications, magazines such as ''Inches'', ''

Black Inches ''Black Inches'' () was a US-based gay pornographic magazine featuring African-American men. Published by Mavety Media alongside magazines such as ''Mandate'', it was established in 1993 and folded in 2009. Features The photos appearing in the m ...

'', ''Latin Inches'', ''Honcho'', and ''

Playguy ''Playguy'' was an American gay pornographic monthly magazine that was geared to gay men under 25. It was established by George W. Mavety in 1976. It was published by Modernismo Publications, Ltd., which also published ''Mandate'', ''Honcho'', ...

''. Mavety also published straight magazines like ''

Juggs ''Juggs'' is a softcore pornography adult magazine published in the United States that specializes in photographs of women with large breasts. It has been described as "the magazine of choice for breast men" by Jerry Saltz, art critic for ''The ...

'' and ''Leg Show''. Although in the early 1990s, Mavety Media's gay publications were becoming a drain on the company's finances, Mavety vowed "never to shut down." Nine years after Mavety's death in 2000, however, the company had to discontinue its gay titles.See the report by Kit Christopher and Joe Thompson, "Mavety Media: The Rise and Fall of Socially Redeeming Content," ''Unzipped'' (October, 2009), 10–11.

Personality

There are conflicting reports regarding Mavety's personality. Whereas John Michael Cox, Jr., warns against "canoniz ngGeorge as the patron saint of the Gay Press," depicting him as a hard-nosed businessman,

Dian Hanson Dian Hanson (born November 2, 1951) is an American magazine and book editor. Career Hanson began her publishing career as an American pornographic magazine editor, historian, and occasional model, helping found the 1970s hardcore journal ''Purit ...

, who worked with him for many years and delivered the eulogy at his burial, describes him in the warmest terms. She reports how "tears burst out," and he "sobbed into his hands" over the AIDS deaths of many of his associates and employees. Hanson also notes that "every employee that got sick was kept on full salary." Mavety contributed to many charitable organizations, such as the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...

, the Caron Foundation, the

English-Speaking Union The English-Speaking Union (ESU) is an international educational membership organistation. Founded by the journalist Sir Evelyn Wrench in 1918, it aims to bring together and empower people of different languages and cultures, by building skill ...

, the Friars Club of New York, the Hellenic Plato Lodge o. 1129, and the National Coalition Against the Death Penalty.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mavety, George W. Year of birth unknown 2000 deaths Adult magazine publishers (people) American pornographers Free speech activists American magazine founders People from Leeds and Grenville United Counties Canadian magazine founders